Samsung Galaxy Note

This week at GDC 2015, Oculus Rift's John Carmack suggested that the company would be going full-on consumer release within Samsung's next release cycle. This does not necessarily mean that Oculus Rift will be released inside Samsung's next release cycle, but that Samsung's next Gear VR would be released in a big way. That very likely means that the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 will have a Gear VR released right alongside the smartphone. So look to the Samsung Gear VR 2 - for Galaxy S6, revealed this week - to get an idea of where you're going later this year.

Just 9 days or so to go, so naturally Samsung is trying to build up the hype surrounding its next stylus-toting phablet, the Galaxy Note 4. And it is doing so by trying remind us, or convince most, that smartphones haven't killed off the need for a writing instrument and that the S Pen might just be the perfect tool to bridge the analog and digital divide.

This Fall at IFA, Samsung will introduce a curved Note 4 and heads-up wearable, according to sources. The Android kingpin will make good on their plans to continue with curved displays, this time introducing them to the masses. They’ll also give us an option to Google Glass — if this source is right.

Now that the Samsung Galaxy S5 has been revealed and released, it would appear that it’s time to push the second wave. As the Galaxy smartphone line has for the past several years released first the "S" model, then the "Note", today’s rumor is not surprising. Instead it’s more of a semi-confirmation of something we already suspected.

Right on top of the first relatively-full specifications leak of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 last week, this week we’re having a peek at a couple of test device images. This device could just as easily be a test phone unit for a long-lost Samsung Galaxy F as it could for the Note, but given the larger display sitting up from of this machine, we’re going with the S Pen-toting machine. This device is square because it’s resting inside a case which hides its shape for testing purposes.

With the Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 from Verizon Wireless, users have the largest tablet on the carrier. This device is not the largest tablet on the market - that honor goes to the Panasonic Toughpad 4K UT MB4 at 20-inches - but it's certainly the biggest we're willing to go for a mobile device. This iteration of the machine also comes with Verizon's 4G LTE connectivity.

There's a whole slew of new tablet devices coming from Samsung inside the first quarter of 2014, likely appearing at CES 2014 here in the USA first and foremost. What we're going to see besides the Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.1 is a Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4. We'll also see a Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1, the both of them rolling with processors that are likely well above the pale - certainly more well-off than the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 series, that is to say.

The reboot of the Samsung ATIV Book collection of high-powered notebooks is looking a lot like the slightly more mobile universe this week with a glimpse at the faux-stitch back of one unit. Straight from a Samsung press event in Korea we're being shown a set of images that are bringing light to the company's soon-to-appear notebooks and tablets, starting with the bigger screens and working their way down to the heroes. What we're seeing here is the closest thing to a Samsung crossover device as we've ever witnessed.

This week there's word on the expected range of dates for the Android 4.4 KitKat software update for the current and second-most recent set of Samsung Galaxy smartphones, including the Galaxy S III, Galaxy S4, and Galaxy Notes. This tip suggests that models GT-I9500, SM-N900, GT-I9300, and SM-N7100 will all be updated to Android 4.4 KitKat inside of 2014, with the newest set of devices seeing this update inside of January.

Supposing you've used the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 before, you know exactly what's possible with the most standard Android tablet size combined with Samsung's most advanced stylus technology. What that company would appear to be doing next is bringing on a tablet with a size 2.1-inches larger diagonally with the S Pen once again coming along for the ride in a machine (still code-named) Galaxy Note 12.2. This device has just appeared ready for approval at the FCC.

With the 2nd edition of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, it's almost as if the company doesn't want to admit that they've got what's easily one of the finest Android tablets on the market. Buried in the announcements of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Gear, the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition barely made a blip in the tech news rounds over the past few weeks since its initial reveal. But fear not - it's not for lack of quality that Samsung doesn't push out the massive backing for this device: herein lies one of the most high-end Android tablets yet to hit the market since the dawn of said devices.

In the Galaxy Note 3 you'll find the re-solidification of the idea that this device category was both invented by and continues to be piloted by Samsung. You wont find this company resting on its laurels when it comes to adding and refining both software features and hardware bits and pieces. This is easily the finest not-quite-tablet-sized smartphone on the market - but what does that mean in a market with little to no competition?